Psychology of Motivation

Before a leader can truly and effectively motivate their staff, they need to fully understand some basic knowledge within the psychology of motivation. It would be foolish to think that you can simply apply a motivational technique and expect to have sustainable and repetitious results.

Basic Psychology of Motivation

Motivation is not something that you can give out to your staff! Each individual is unique and therefore, we respond differently to identical psychological factors that are generally deemed as having a motivational value. As a leader, your responsibility is not to give motivation to your employees, but rather to set an environment where everyone will be inspired to contribute all of their being towards a common goal. In other words, they will be motivated!

Motivation factors are either intrinsic, meaning within the individual (i.e. respect, pride, sense of belonging) or extrinsic, meaning outside of the individual (i.e. money, perks).

Basic Belief of a Leader

Everyone is unique.

A leader should never make the mistake of thinking that everyone is the same as he is, thus we need to practice critical thinking. What motivates you isn't necessarily what will motivate others. For people to reach their full potential, they must believe that their leader treats them as a unique individual and not like just any other person. As a leader, if you want to maximize each team member's motivation, you will need to go the extra mile and ensure that you adapt your motivation technique to the individual whom you wish to enable to realize their full potential.

Everyone has Leadership Qualities

Everyone has leadership qualities. Harness them; don't be afraid to use the sum of your team's leadership qualities instead of only yours. Remember, two leaders are better than one! When being asked to contribute their leadership qualities, every employee will develop a sense of purpose, which creates a highly motivational state within the individual.